Return to Phu Suoi Festival

My Quan village, Ha Vinh commune (Ha Trung) is a colorful cultural area with seasonal festivals, village festivals, diverse games, and folk performances. Especially, when coming to Phu Suoi festival, we will see that this cultural picture has been woven by the whole community.

The female ceremonial team of My Quan village performs rituals. Photo: Contributor

According to the book "Phu Suoi Historical and Cultural Relics" (2019) provided by the locality and recounted by the elderly: Phu Suoi relic is located at the foot of the southern mountain range of Tam Diep mountain range in My Quan village. My Quan Trang land, located close to Than Phu seaport on the axis connecting Hoat river to enter the Thanh plain, is a famous place in Vietnamese history for the nation's resistance wars against foreign invaders, bearing the mark of the Dinh - Ly - Tran - Ho - Le - Nguyen dynasties. Here, since when has there been a temple to worship the first Holy Mother of Heaven Lieu Hanh. Also because it was built next to a clear underground stream flowing from the heart of the rocky mountain, it is called Phu Suoi (also known as Phu Suoi My Quan). From inside the temple, you can see the cool green canopy of ancient trees, surrounded by immense rice fields, in the distance is the gentle Hoat river, diligently offering the sweetness of alluvium to create golden harvests.

Built in the 17th century, but according to the villagers, based on the arched architecture, it can be affirmed that during the Nguyen Dynasty, Suoi Palace had a major renovation. After a long time, Suoi Palace was "flattened", until 2019, thanks to socialized resources, the palace was restored on the old foundation.

Previously, Suoi prefecture had dozens of royal decrees bestowed by many dynasties, but due to theft, up to now there is only one royal decree dated July 25, the 9th year of Khai Dinh reign (1924) with the following content: "Edict for My Quan village, Dong Ban commune, Ha Trung prefecture, Thanh Hoa province. This locality has long been dedicated to worshiping Princess Lieu Hanh along with Princess Quynh Hoa and Que Hoa. Realizing the sacredness of the deity, the king himself celebrated his 40th birthday, spread out a precious edict, performed a deep and extensive ceremony, promoted the deity to a higher rank and the beautiful title: Che Thang Hoa Dieu Dai Vuong, and gave the golden code of Bodhisattva Lien Hoa toa Ha. Allowing the locality to worship the deity carefully to continue to protect our people"...

Because of its sacredness, Suoi Palace is always bustling with visitors from all over the world. Especially, during the festival that takes place from March 17 to March 19 of the lunar calendar, Suoi Palace attracts a large number of people and tourists from near and far to come to the festival, worship the Mother Goddess and visit the landscape.

Mr. Nguyen Hong San, a cultural officer of Ha Vinh commune (Ha Trung) said: The festival gathers most of the people in My Quan village. In addition to the procession team of 12 people carrying the Long Dinh palanquin to receive the royal decree from the communal house to the palace, most of the monks, elders, the festival committee, organizations, associations, people and tourists all follow the procession. In addition, the female mandarin sacrificial team of 9 to 12 people is well trained to offer offerings. After the female mandarin sacrificial ceremony, there is a procession of the ball, the hammock palanquin carried by 8 female mediums along with the Long Dinh palanquin from Suoi palace to Cao Son temple, Cao Cac to perform the ceremony and then return to the palace. The procession of the god palanquin, the female mandarin sacrificial ceremony and fun games such as wrestling, dragon dance, lion dance, chess, swing continuously take place; at night there is Tuong singing to create a bustling and joyful festival atmosphere, the ceremony becomes a village festival that attracts thousands of pilgrims.

According to statistics, in Thanh Hoa province there are currently 48 places to worship Mother Lieu Hanh. Among them, Phu Suoi and Phu Suoi festival are always the addresses that attract visitors on their journey to the spiritual land. Not only does it have a romantic space, coming to Phu Suoi, people can also watch the spirit mediums, enjoy the singing of the Thanh Van with the mediums: Thanh Mau, Quan Hoang, Quan Lon, Co Chin... simulating the wandering journey of the fairies traveling all over the country and the beautiful landscape of Thanh Son and Thuy Thuy.

Most recently, at the end of 2024, the People's Committee of Ha Vinh commune held the inauguration ceremony of the historical relic and scenic spot of Phu Suoi. "Since 1996, Phu Suoi has been ranked as a provincial relic, but it was not until today that we truly saw such a beautiful and solemn establishment. Surely this will be a tourist destination in the system of key relics, an attractive tour of Thanh land", said Mr. Mai Hong Cuong, Chairman of the People's Committee of Ha Vinh commune.

Le Nhu Cuong (Contributor)

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/ve-voi-le-hoi-phu-suoi-242452.htm